In the domain of the removable join of pipes through which a fluid under pressure is conveyed, it is known to use a female connection element which comprises controlled means for locking a male connector in fitted configuration in the female element, i.e. when the pipes are in connected configuration. For example, it is known from U.S. Pat. No. 6,050,298 to use locking balls mounted in the female element and provided to be selectively engaged in an outer peripheral groove of a male connector.
The multiple contacts between the balls of the female element and the groove of the male connector during the successive fittings of these elements cause wear and tear and/or a localized deformation which may lead to the creation of beads or of incrustations likely to hinder correct functioning of the connection. Now, in certain applications such as the filling of automobile vehicle tanks with liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), the pressure of the fluid transiting through such a connection may be of the order of 250 bars, this involving considerable stresses on the elements constituting the connection and accelerating the phenomena of wear and tear and/or of deformation, to such a point that the life duration of such a connection may be substantially reduced.
It is known, for example from GB-A-2 036 906 or U.S. Pat. No. 3,468,562, to use wedge plates or blocks sliding in oblique directions with respect to the axis of fit of the male and female elements of a connection in order to immobilize these elements in fitted configuration. These wedge plates or blocks are of complex shape. They require sophisticated and expensive machinings. In addition, their shape induces considerable risks of jamming thereof.
Furthermore, U.S. Pat. No. 2,433,119 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,188,123 teach using cylindrical detent elements which are more economical than the afore-mentioned wedge plates or blocks. Such detents have a linear bearing surface, along a segment of their generatrix, in the groove of the male element. The radius of curvature of the detents being small, this results in high contact pressures. This bearing surface is therefore subject to rapid wear and tear and induces deformation of the male element. In order to be able to be manoeuvred, such detents must collaborate with two fast, coaxial rings of which one attacks the detents in the vicinity of their front end and the other acts in the vicinity of their rear end. This leads to an excessive radial space requirement.
It is a more particular object of the invention to overcome these drawbacks by proposing a novel female quick connection element capable of cooperating with a male element of known geometry, without inducing too much wear and tear or deformation of those parts of these elements used to lock them in fitted configuration.